NEW YORK — U.S. mills shipped some 8.2 million net tons of steel in January, up 9.7 percent from December and a five-month high, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

While the January volume fell 3.4 percent from the same month last year, the total was 2 percent above the 2012 monthly average.

Month-on-month changes were seen in cold-rolled sheet (up 15 percent), hot-dipped galvanized sheet and strip (up 12 percent), and hot-rolled sheet (up 1 percent).